Moment of truth for Billerica

By Evan Lips, elips@lowellsun.com

Updated:
12/11/2012 10:15:45 AM EST

BILLERICA -- It's a contest pitting old against new, change versus status quo, and a new vision for the town center against the idea that a dramatic transformation of the town center flies in the face of preserving old-school, New England tradition.

It's also a political battle. A conservative faction, which believes local government is best when it keeps its hands out of the taxpayer's pocket, will square off with the town's progressives, who say big changes in the center are long overdue.

The fight will be decided on Monday in a townwide referendum. That vote will answer two questions: Will the town spend $14 million on redesigning the Town Common? And, will one side win by not showing up?

Center redesign proponents won the first round at Town Meeting, scoring a 133-59 vote when they needed a two-thirds majority. No one expected a rematch. Then Town Meeting rep George Simolaris collected enough signatures to force a townwide vote -- and not "a decision by a select few Town Meeting members."

The overtime period played itself out during a seven-day window in which supporters of keeping the common the way it is scored a victory by using a petition to bring the decision away from Town Meeting's closed doors and into the hands of all 26,000-plus registered Billerica voters.

The townwide referendum is scheduled for Monday, and now that it's just one day away, things are about to get even wackier.

Any reversal on Town Meeting's pro-change outcome is contingent upon whether 20 percent of all registered voters, an amount equaling about 5,200, cast a ballot.

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That's the rule on Billerica referendums, per the Town Charter.

Any turnout number above the magic 20 percent figure means the same rule that was in play at Town Meeting -- that the project will only become reality with two-thirds majority support -- is the rule for the referendum.

The redesign has been Town Manager John Curran's number-one project this year. He's led nearly 30 public-information sessions on the project since it was first introduced at a selectmen's meeting in February.

For Curran, the selling point includes improving the flow of traffic, both for the average motorist and the first responder. He said the redesign will make the center more attractive, by burying utilities and through building up sidewalk space, while making the Common easier for pedestrians to navigate.

Those resisting change, however, have equated the plan to bring two-way traffic back to Boston Road similar to installing a speedway. Opponents bristle at the $14 million projected cost and have argued that the true cost lies somewhere north of $20 million.

Those with the most skin in the game are the town center business owners, the overwhelming majority of whom have been silent. If the project moves forward, the growing pains of a town reinventing itself from the inside out will most certainly make it more complicated for diners, shoppers and other consumers to do business in the town center.

Billerica's Common has the basics of the classic New England town center. There's the leafy green, complete with a gazebo, monuments and decades-old trees. But its nuances include an adjacent strip mall, property belonging to O'Connor's True Value Hardware store owner Jerry O'Connor, with its Walgreens drugstore, Chinese restaurant and liquor store.

Decades ago, a Colonial home stood in its footprint. That house was moved behind 325 Boston Road, site of the Collins Bowladrome.

Mangia Mangia Italian Kitchen owner Bob Mallock has been the lone outspoken critic from the business community. He said earlier this month that if a prolonged construction phase doesn't kill his business, losing several parking spaces along Boston Road will. There is a 50-space lot behind a row of town center businesses but the spots are not open to Mallock's customers.

Richard Cooke's Center Cafe is next door. He, too, is against the redesign, posting a sign in his window urging voters to oppose the project. He could not be reached for comment.

Manny Lantzakis, owner of both Liberty Bell Roast Beef and Sweet Liberty Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream, occupies the most business space among all nearby businesses. He has politely declined to comment, fearing either stance might not sit well with his customers.

A yellow placard in the front window of O'Connor's True Value Hardware does not urge voters to pick a side, but simply reminds shoppers of Monday's "special election." O'Connor could not be reached for comment.

To walk from the public library, across the Common, and into center businesses like Liberty Bell Roast Beef, pedestrians must navigate six lanes of Boston and Concord road traffic.

Behind the block of businesses overlooking the Common sit cinderblock-style cubes of office space, some of which is vacant -- a far cry from the Victorian houses that stood there decades ago.

The redesign calls for four lanes of two-way traffic to the town-center stretch of Boston Road, which currently boasts three lanes of northbound one-way traffic. Concord Road's three lanes of southbound one-way traffic would be slimmed down to a single, northbound lane, effectively spelling the end of the rotary configuration.

Drivers would be able to turn right from River Street onto Boston Road and then turn left onto Andover Road without first circling the Common. Southbound traffic entering the Common on Boston Road would first pass the village green and then turn right at the O'Connor Hardware Plaza intersection to head south on Concord Road.

Opponents like Simolaris have labeled the plan "Billerica's Big Dig."

Supporters argue the project gives the public easier access to the town's historic green, meaning more community events outside of the traditional December tree-lighting.

On Monday, the future of the center will not be decided by the town manager, nor will be it decided by Simolaris, the Andover Road resident responsible for the colorful anti-construction signs.

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